“Apple iPhones and other U.S. goods could suffer sales hits in China if President-elect Donald Trump goes through with his ‘naive’ plan of slapping a large import tariff on Chinese products, a state-backed newspaper warned on Sunday,” Arjun Kharpal reports for CNBC. ” Should any such policy come into effect, China will take a ‘tit-for-tat approach,’ according to an opinion piece in the Global Times, a newspaper backed by the Communist party.”

“As an example of earlier tariff-tit-for-tats, the Global Times pointed toward the 35 percent tariffs imposed in 2009 on Chinese tires. China retaliated with its own tariffs on U.S. car parts and chicken,” Kharpal reports. “The opinion piece said Trump was a ‘shrewd businessman’ and would not be naive, but, if he was serious with the policy, it would affect a number of U.S. industries.”

“America’s relationship with China is in focus after Trump slammed the world’s second-largest economy during his campaign. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump spoke over the phone on Sunday,” Kharpal reports. “‘During the call, the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another, and President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward,’ a statement from Trump’s presidential transition team said.”

Right on. Let’s give the commie pinkos a bit of tit for tat alright. See how the commies like that. I have absolute disdain for China. Mao made Hitler look like a whimp. Research how many that jerk killed during his time. Tens of millions. He killed more than any other tyrant in history. Genghis might have come close. Jerks. And Apple makes its stuff there. As a matter of principle, I hate that, but as a consumer, we have no choice but to buy Hecho en Chine mess. Even Macs. Daggnabbedit.

There are a number of factors. 1) Apple has never manufactured iPhones in the US. 2) Apple has no factories in the US. To build, outfit and staff the factories would take several years. 3) Limited availability of qualified labor especially in the numbers needed to staff the factories. In 2013 Foxconn employed 300K workers building the 5S. Numbers are likely much higher now since the product line has increased and unit sales are much larger. Also Foxconn is not the only assembler. 4) Labor cost is not the key driver as the labor content per phone has been estimated at only$12-30 per phone. 5) The iPhone ecosphere has been a net plus to the US economy. Apple is perhaps the largest US income taxpayer. Large contribution to US economy with its investment in infrastructure – stores, solar farms, data centers. Huge jobs creation in apps development and retail.

Other than the “trash can” Mac Pro, Apple hasn’t manufactured hardware in the US for years, not since the 1990’s at least.

Yes, there are a number of factors, labor cost not the only one but, I think it is one of the decisive factors.

If you think you can work in an [Apple] factory and make about $2 US dollars an hour then we need hundreds of thousands thinking the same way, AND are also willing and prepared to work more than 8 hours a day.

I would prefer to share a more reliable, or closer to reality, source than this link below, but I have no friends or acquaintances living in china working as factory workers to ask them how much they are paid per hour, or what’s the minimum ‘factory worker wage’ there. The reference below will give you a pretty good idea of one of the major reasons why iPhones cannot be made in the US.

Labor may be only $13 per phone, but that’s because the labor is so cheap (estimates at $3/hour). If it were built in the U.S., it would be 5 x the cost, and then factor in that Apple makes and expects a very healthy margin on its business, and you get a rough estimate of $100 – $200 extra for a base iPhone. Probably less than half as many people would buy it at that price, which in turn reduces their global supply chain advantage and total R&D spend capability… downward spiral.

Labor unions went out of vogue around the same time corporate executives figured manufacturing could be done elsewhere. It’s too late to turn back the clock now, though. Robots and AI are the next wave and they’re coming way faster than we can retrain a squishy workforce.

“Overwrought libs and the smoldering remains of the now-regional Democrat Party need to relax.”

I’m a Democrat but that’s pretty funny and true. I love the sqawking Left running around like a Chicken Little with it’s head still attached fearing the worst. Unfortunately. Give it a rest. Wait, watch and see what happens. Stay vigilant but also stay sane.

Do not forget the near-implosion of the Republican party at the RNC. Those fractures may be a little less visible due to the Trump win, but things are far from warm and fuzzy within the GOP.

For my part, i am glad that the major parties are fracturing. We need to break away from the political oligarchy that has long held power in this country. We need more, and better, choices as evidenced by the last election.

Under Obama, the Democrats have lost over 900 state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, and 13 Senate seats. The Obama legacy is total failure. The Democrat Party is merely a regional party by all rational definition.

The Republican Party controls the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature, a governing trifecta in 24 U.S. states vs. the Democrats with only 6 (Wash., Ore., Calif., Hawaii, Del., and R.I.)

At the federal level, the Republican Party owns the governing superfecta:
1. Presidency
2. Senate
3. House
4. Supreme Court

Enjoy the Trump administration and the coming decades of a conservatively-stacked Supreme Court. I certainly will.

Right on. Now we need to kick out ALL illegals and muslims who will not swear allegiance to our constitution. Have term limits on all congress members. Make’em get a job. Term limits. Maximum of say, six years, maybe be able to run again in six years IF the people think they did a better job than the jerk who took that first jerk’s place. Bunch of bureaucratic jerks. Oh, and please Mr. President elect, please CLOSE DWON the VA hospitals. Please. I just got back from one again today. Whew, just having to enter those USSR feeling buildings raises my blood pressure. Just allow us service connected disabled vets to go to ANY doctor, hospital we want. That alone will save no telling how many millions of cold solid lucres.

The Art of the Deal is what this is all about. Everything is a deal. Go in with the extreme goal that you want, keep your cards well hidden. Come out with the best deal that you can get that both sides can agree with. That’s how the Donald works. As for the Democrats they have lost both the House and the Senate, the Supreme Court for the next 20 years minimum, 33 of 50 state governors plus the presidency. To make it worse almost everything the past president accomplished was by presidential edict which can be undone easily.

You mean the book that he had ghostwritten and whose author revealed that most of it was glossy crap meant to inflate Trump’s ego even further? That book? It’s going to tragic/comic to come back to this ical’ed page in about 18 months when his administration is starting to go off the rails and the world sees him for the empty suit he is. The past is prologue.. Maybe he can try screwing over a few countries with actual weapons and/or economic power like he did all of his contractors. When a real crisis erupts on his watch no amount of braggadocio will fix it. He won the election and did it by understanding better than the disjointed and overconfident Democrats that winning is all that matters. BUT.. it’s just now dawning on him that walking away from a commitment doesn’t work on the world stage, blustering your way through negotiations doesn’t work when the other side can and will shoot you, and trying to “negotiate” with people willing to die by the thousands will eventually blow up in your face. He’s in it up to his neck now.. this behaviorally challenged schoolboy in a suit. He’s FAR more likely to fuck it up than fix it.

Look, both our economies need each other so this will be a difficult situation but, China has been raping our country unabated for many years now. Xi said “China first” as he should and it’s about time our leaders say “America” first for a change.

You are correct…It will not happen…plus we simply cannot build 10’s of millions of phones in the states….iPhones are being built in factories that have 50,000 people live and work at the same facility ….does that sound like an American life style? No….both China and Trump will not make this happen…

While I admire your ambition to say “Made in USA”, it’s really not realistic at this time or in the immediate future. As Magoo pointed out, the idea of llow cost labor would never fly in this country. While I do think as robotic’s come more into play there could be significant increases in the possibility of bringing parts of the manufacturing process back locally. I guess my hope would be to have manufacturing set up in multiple countries so the countries could supply local demands and even compete for production. That’s a very tall order considering the need for quality control.

China is worse than Russia. Hey China, who cares, you are a despicable country with no intent other than ripping everybody off and stealing as many secrets as you can get your grubby, pathetic hands on. I hope Trump shuts your asses down, and the sooner, the better.